ADMINISTRATIVE CORE PROJECT SUMMARY Building on an established administrative organization and management plan that has been effective in implementing the goals of the Maine INBRE, the Administrative Core will engage all ME-INBRE institutions to stimulate institutional development and research and training in comparative functional genomics. To that end the Administrative Core will provide scientific leadership, administrative and fiscal oversight, and logistical support to the network. The Principal Investigator (PI) has primary responsibility for administering the program and overseeing the development of the INBRE. He is assisted in this by the Program Coordinator (PC) and a Program Administrator (PA), with financial oversight provided by the Director of Finance and Sponsored Programs Manager. Decisions regarding overall direction and all activities of the INBRE, budgets, and core usage are made by the PI and PC with advice from the Core Directors, the Steering Committee, and the External Advisory Committee. Steering Committee members serve as liaisons between the PI and network institutions, and ensure implementation of programmatic activities and procedures at their institutions. The Administrative Core will manage the Developmental Research Project Program and work coordinately with the Bioinformatics Core and Research Training and Resources Core to implement programs to meet the research training, career development, mentoring, and infrastructure needs of faculty, students, and institutions in the network. Infrastructure needs are identified and addressed in consultation with the Steering Committee. The Administrative Core will work with the Research Training and Resources Core to coordinate networking, sharing of resources, and collaborations with Maine COBREs, the Northern New England CTR, and other INBREs. The Administrative Core will implement an evaluation strategy that will assess and guide Maine INBRE's progress in strengthening Maine's biomedical research capacity and competitiveness. The evaluation plan includes rigorous formative and summative assessment that will determine the effectiveness of INBRE activities. To provide an independent evaluation of the INBRE, an external evaluation will be conducted by the External Advisory Committee and by a second, independent, external evaluation panel. Finally, the Administrative Core will engage in strategic outreach activities with the private sector to develop partnerships that create opportunities for student internships and employment, and thus develop a continuous pipeline from early training into careers within the state of Maine that will enhance biomedical research infrastructure and economics across Maine and in the Northeast Region.